Sometimes I think about ways that I would change my wedding and after seeing Stephan and Marike’s special day I would just replicate it–from the dress with the belt, to the DIY details and the location. I am seriously in love with every aspect of Stephan and Marike’s DIY beach wedding in South Africa. There is nothing I would change (except for the groom of course)!
Here’s some words from Marike: Our wedding was DIY all the way! We hand screen-print from time to time and decided to print our own poster ‘Save the Date’, our wedding invites and also pine runners for each table. We didn’t want our decor to overpower the setting and decided to keep things subtle. We made a driftwood gazebo for the beach where we held the ceremony and white flags lining the walkway down to it. We had to pitch a tent, build a bar, plant some trees and made a whole lot of bunting. It all came together with the help from our amazing family and friends.
The reception area is a piece of open land on a farm overlooking the ocean where Marike’s parents camp every summer vacation. We wanted our guests to share this beautiful venue with us and we tried to use our surroundings as inspiration. The beach ceremony was crisp and white, so as to not take away from the spectacular setting. At the reception we incorporated a lot more colour and had a lot more fun. The main features and themes throughout was wood, white, pops of colour and arrows.
It takes a lot more time and stress to have a venue that is far from suppliers and survice providers that you know and trust. A destination wedding is awesome, but be prepared, websites are not always trustworthy. Make sure to meet all parties and give them clear, detailed briefs. Thinking back, it would have been easier to use an establish wedding venue and wedding planner, but then we would not have had our perfect wedding.
